The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-25

Albany is a winter capital. hut there ~
no city in the United States where the
possibilities OF a cold Christmas, or u
snowy one, are understood uA In Mon
trcal and Quebec. The English families
that crowd the richly laden tables ol
the Christmas season there and make
il the ono day Of the year whom heaven
invests the earth with all ot her peace
and bounty and joy that man can
comprehend, gather behind windows
fitted with double slshcS, the outer one oi
which will not open. Tho doors OF the
houses are framed with strips ol cloth,
stoves are ON every floor, aud the ball rack
rrnan beneath thc weight Of the fur coats
and caps and shoes ol the ladies aud men,
In ten successive days that ! have
been in Montreal ut this season thcrC
was only one on which did not iHll
and the roadways and sidewalks OF the
streets wcrc already three or four feet
dccp with hard packed q From my
bed room window | could see ON thc shed,
and caves the many Layers ul different
cnlors that marked the frequent storms,
now n thin shoot iur u little Hustler oi
flakes. and then u two-inCh or Three Inch
yellow band, lett hy a two-tays lul ul
CRYSTAL flakes. An that seems like CHRIST
mas weather to an Engii,hmanl II Is an
r~xurputiou of the winters lac knew at
home. /, is it weather ior heavy dining,
Tor rich puddiurs, for dancing, slcighing
and grand lrulirs and rounds ul games IN.
doors during the long evenings.
have said that We have 10 such Christ
masses IT, our cities. | should have SAID
our larger cities, lor at that soasnn ol the
wear | have seen the snow iu Vermont aud
! New Hampshire 80 high that IL rose Ia I'M
| tcrmiuablc white walls 49, lofty ns The
car tops beside tho railroads. lut the
people of Major Canada call such luiitudcS
mild winter climates, aud point I" the
depth aud frequency Of the snuNillls ~ q
prpui ui il, Tor II is not apt 81 be- very cold
when ID SHOWS. For colder Chtisimnscs
We must 20 westward and north, into what
was vaguely called British America only a
few years ago, hut now b. divided into the
rruit States ul A~s,iuJbuil, Alberta, Sus-
knt,hcwau and Athuhu-ca. To give YOU
nu idea ol what Christmas must he ihclr
let me say that after a journey through
that country | found myself returning
homo through Montana and Dakota l
reached the mnrh-hous,s oi the Marquis
do Mors. In the Had Lands Of the Little
Missouri. u week or 90 after his cowboys
lad returned from their annual round.
up." which means that expedition oil
unchmcn mako In pursuit oi their wan.
dcring cattle every spring 10 gather and
bring them home. They reported n lnss
u ~ per cent. Of tho picturesque mobile.
mans stock. Eighty live In every lON
had frozen To death. Unable In reach the
short grass through the heavy coating ol
snow above IL, they hal huddlcd IN
groups, behind single trees OF ridiculously
Inadequate icncrs. 10 ip'czc tO death inthc
knife like winds that swept the prairie ~
with u blast ui dcmatorialisrd lee.
Two hundred miles north 81 there, IN
Assiuaboia, the pioneers told me that the
thermometer often falls IN 80 or even 10.
below zero, aud that the wind blows nj
the rate 81 forty or iity miles M hour nj
times. There u no welcome, warming
snow Ia speak ~ thCrc, IA CnyclOp th,
windWari sides Of tho houses and out
buildings, and 10 cl0thc the roofs ~ with
a blanket of down. There IL not IN q
whole winter above "a incl, Of snow IN
The prairie, aud when that flies n h ~
fine m -four, aud the nh " ~ cold that tto
snow does not melt On ones shuci"IS.
: The wcll.tO4do live In frame house, and
! fight the winds and the cold with blazing
fires that are not NJ cilcCtual but What
carh man aud woman sleeps under thc
weightiDsl mass of bed clothing that can hc
pnyidcd. The mu,t comfortable OF nl IN
that country nr the poorer newcomers
who have built themselves houses 81
vol cut into such large squares uhn' the
walls are three feet thick, though the
cakes are no deeper than the roots ol the
grass which fringe. tho 1utsllo Of such
dwellings with u ~hairy-likc fur 81 guiy
mus blndcs n requires care aud skill a.
M the window Eshcs aud dpum Ol
such houses IN deity enough 10 keep
out tho wind. aud ~ you notice
NJ YOU ride through that country
that the nprthcrly side. aud often the cnst-
crn aud western ends, ar not pierced nj
all-the only openings boing th"-c that
face the south. They began will cattle.
missing IN that region, hat have learned
that horses and mules do better, Tor with
their hppfs they can dig down to the gra,s
and keep supplied with food sufficient Tor
warmth ~ we'll m existence. ! found u
rich European living In AS,innboia, and
|, though II WIS In June the whole external
aspect II his beautiful home Wns eloquent
/, uftho severity ~ the winters there. The
HOUSE hal nu outer plating at glns, ~ that
In the day time the sun warmed n und NJ
night the wind could not enter. Between
the inner and the outer shell ~ the wills
was u shcnthing II brick. In the center ol
the huu-e, with one end projecting into
the parlof and ono into the dining room,
was q Russian stoyc-a grrni, square, hul.
low box II brick mason o hc filled with
wood aud fired every daj, and t0 shed
heat Tor many hours after the fuel had
burned away. With this stove and brick
walls and glnsa outer shell, not b. speak ri
the wine cellar crowded with material for
good cheer. Christmas brought no tcrrOn,
10 that lonely household.
but think YOU that tho people u the
ncW parts 81 Canada III shiyCHng with
|, cold In their intense wint0ni Mover
could thcrc be- q greater mistake. Glad In
fur, which oven the poor contriyc 20 gvt,
they brave the cold OuiaOf4dO0r, and
, though they must drive irum ton 20 fifty
miles for the fun Of II, thcnc IA seldom a
night when some one docs not give n
party at which there arc dancing and cat.
Ing and irolicking with ld.country hcarti'
, ness.
, but there are tcrfor for these pleasure.
gocns such ~ We Of older countries never
, DRAM ot not the fear u the wolves that
abound there. for they are ~ c0wnrlly ~
TO be no NOR feared Than the timid deer,
the all but human guphcrs or the startled
: wild birls that everywhere Zee from man.
The terror of the region In winter IL the
now-squall. fr tn Is the countfyoi thosl
squalls made known most widely by Mark
{ Twan's description Of n ia ~"lloughinl
| H." lie there pictures n man lost In 4
squall and unable to tell In which dluc